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Hospital Charges for 1 in 20 Hospital Stays Averaged $18,000 per Day

AHRQ News and Numbers, October 13, 2010

AHRQ News and Numbers provides statistical highlights on the use and cost of health services and health insurance in the United States.

Hospital charges for the most expensive patient stays at U.S. hospitals in 2008 averaged about $18,000 per day, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). These patients were most likely to be in the hospital for treatment of septicemia, or blood infection, hardening of the arteries, and heart attacks.

According to the analysis by the Federal agency, the average was based on the top 5 percent most expensive hospitalizations, or about 2 million patient stays. These stays lasted an average of 19 days. In contrast, daily hospital bills for the remaining 95 percent of patient stays in 2008 averaged just under $7,000 and 4 days, and were most likely for childbirth, pneumonia, and heart failure.

Compared to the less expensive stays, patients with the more expensive hospital stays also were:

At greater risk of dying in the hospital—9 times more likely to be in the highest category for risk of death in the hospital (28 percent versus 3 percent).

Were older—average age of 59 versus 48 years.

This AHRQ News and Numbers is based on data in Most Expensive Hospitalizations, 2008. The report uses data from the 2008 Nationwide Inpatient Sample, a database of hospital inpatient stays in all short-term, non-Federal hospitals. The data are drawn from hospitals that comprise 90 percent of all discharges in the United States and include patients, regardless of insurance type, as well as the uninsured.

For other information, or to speak with an AHRQ data expert, please contact Bob Isquith at Bob.Isquith@ahrq.hhs.gov or call (301) 427-1539.